by Marcia Muller

Mysterious Press, June, 2002.
Hardcover, 289 pages.
ISBN: 089296765X

In this twenty-second outing for Sharon McCone, the savvy private eye dives into the sleazy world of the dot com boom in the Bay Area. Reeling from her brother's suicide, Sharon reluctantly agrees to look into the suicide of Roger Nagaswa -- he jumped to his death off the Bay Bridge, supposedly from being abused and overworked at Insite, the trendy online magazine where he worked. Before he died, Roger was investigating some corrupt practices at the company, and his death was very convenient for a number of people. With the help of her reporter friend J.D., Sharon manages to get inside Insite, and finds a hornet's nest of lies, deception and corruption. The company is about to go bankrupt, and the venture capitalist who has access to the all-important cash infusion is missing. As Sharon delves deeper into the lives of the Insite employees, she realizes that there are people out there who are willing to kill to keep their secrets out of the public eye. And one of them just framed her for the murder of one of her best friends.

Marcia Muller is at the top of her game with her latest book. Sharon McCone was one of the first fictional female private eyes, and she has evolved in interesting ways over the years. The mystery is tightly plotted and the characters are vividly portrayed. Muller's love for San Francisco shines through in her elegant descriptions of the city. This series is still as fresh and entertaining as ever; Ms. Muller is an outstanding talent.

Dead Midnight is available for purchase on Amazon.com

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This review was published in the September, 2002 of The Internet Writing Journal.

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